Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development has admitted that a government is facing serious challenges to collect adequate resources to finance operations of the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) amid economic turmoil.

Botolo: Treasury to scale down funding

Secretary to Treasury (ST) Ben Botolo said government will scale down funding for government operations in some MDAs and asked them to prioritise expenditure.

Botolo said funding priority will be given to areas of great concern in need of more funding such as the Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST) for procurement of drugs and medical supplies.

He said health sector will be given attention as one of the key priority areas.

“We are looking at hospitals because some hospitals have run of medicine, especially district hospitals,” said Botolo in a statement made available to Nyasa Times.

Botolo accused some MDAs for failure to submit their financial statements and expenditure returns, saying they should do so by the 16th of each month.

Submission of such financial statements was a standard requirement in public finance management.